Entertainment
‘Love Is Blind’s Sara Carton and Joey Leveille Go Instagram Official
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NEED TO KNOW
- Sara Carton and Joey Leveille confirmed their relationship with a kissing photo shared on Instagram on Sunday, July 13
- The post came after months of the Love Is Blind stars denying that their close bond was anything more than friendship
- Sara was engaged to Ben Mezzenga on the show and Joey was engaged to Monica Danús but neither one got married at the altar in the finale
Love Is Blind stars Sara Carton and Joey Leveille are finally Instagram official!
On Sunday, July 13, Sara, 29, shared two photos alongside her Netflix costar, 36 that were taken on a picturesque rooftop as she confirmed their friendship has blossomed into a romance. One snap showed the pair all smiles with their arms wrapped around each other, while another captured the moment they enjoyed a steamy kiss.
Sara opted to wear a pink top and matching skirt with sneakers for the casual date night. Joey was equally stylish in white shorts and a gray T-shirt teamed with sneakers.
“Happy🥹. my newest life chapter title,” Sara captioned the Instagram post, tagging Joey.
Sara and Joey had an initial connection on season 8 of Love Is Blind, but ultimately Sara coupled with Ben Mezzenga and Joey got engaged to Monica Danús.
Despite making it to their wedding day, Sara told Ben, 28, during the season finale that she didn’t want to go ahead with marrying him due to their fundamental differences. Joey and Monica, 28, were among the first couples to be engaged in the pods, but also did not tie the knot on the reality TV show.
Love Is Blind fans began to speculate that Sara and Joey were an item after the show wrapped in March. During the reunion, the pair was notably sitting together on the couch.
Shortly after the reunion aired, Monica called out Sara and Joey in an interview for Elite Daily, claiming Sara had confirmed they were dating.
“I texted Sara, ‘I’m hearing a lot of things about you and Joey. Is there anything you need to tell me?’ And she called me and said, ‘Nothing’s official, but we are seeing each other,’ ” Monica claimed at the time. “She said they didn’t want to make anything official until any online hate dies down.”
At the time, Monica said she felt betrayed by Sara, whom she’d previously considered a friend.
“She told me this started a month ago, so that’s at least two months ago now. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was longer,” Monica said. “All this time when I was venting to her about Joey and she was saying she had my back, she was actually with him.
“It’s a betrayal, and it’s very hurtful,” Monica continued. “It’s no surprise from Joey — I don’t think very highly of him, and I don’t want him in my life. But I’m hurt that Sara would do this to me.”
Sara shut down the romance rumors while on The Viall Files podcast on March 13, saying, “I’ve seen this a few times online in the past 24 hours — to be clear, me and Joey are not dating,” before adding, “I definitely have no capacity to even think about a relationship.”
Sara described how her special bond with Joey flourished on the show while doubling down that they aren’t romantically involved with each other.
“There was a love square between me, Monica, Ben and Joey,” she said. “We were all talking to each other until the second to last day in the pods. Of course, naturally in that situation and that circumstance, you do connect with people. I feel like me and Joey did establish a really great friendship.”
Courtesy of Netflix
Sara and Joey continued to fuel speculation about their closeness after they were spotted enjoying a night out together at Ethyl’s Bar & Restaurant in the Upper East Side area of New York City on Sunday, May 4.
The pair reportedly left the restaurant together after drinking with a friend until around 1:30 a.m. local time.
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During an appearance on the Dear Shandy podcast on Thursday, May 8, Sara addressed their outings.
“[We are] dating in the sense of exploring our relationship and getting to know one another,” Sara said.
When co-host Sharleen Joynt brought up casually dating as their status, Joey said, “Well, I wouldn’t say casually.”
“We’re exploring and with the future of maybe being boyfriend-girlfriend,” he added.
Sara Carton/Instagram
The Sunday Instagram post announcing they are officially a couple caught the attention of their fellow Love Is Blind contestants.
David Bettenburg posted a GIF of Michael Jackson eating popcorn in the comment section, while Lauren O’Brien teased, “Cute! How’d you guys meet?”
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The same day that Sara and Joey went Instagram official, Ben posted a video on Instagram showing himself at a bar with Monica and Love Is Blind season 6 star Chelsea Blackwell.
“Had to make my own dance floor @chelseadblackwell @the.monicadanus #loveisblind #netflix #dancefloor,” Ben captioned the clip of him dancing.
Entertainment
Vans Warped Tour Montreal 2026: Everything you missed
The Vans Warped Tour continued its 2026 run this weekend in Montreal with legendary acts like A Day To Remember, All Time Low, Yellowcard, and more. With fans from all over flocking north of the border to catch their favorite pop punk, emo, and hardcore acts, the weekend was nonstop music and action. Ahead, see what you missed from the tour’s latest stop in La Métropole – and what you can look forward to at the remaining Warped Tour stops this year.
Entertainment
Melissa Gilbert advocates for young stars to be protected after Hayden Panettiere’s death

Melissa Gilbert fiercely advocated for child stars to be protected after Hayden Panettiere tragically died last week
“Within one year, Michelle Trachtenberg, Daveigh Chase and Hayden Panettiere have died,” the “Little House on the Prairie” alum wrote via a Substack essay titled “Enough Is Enough.”
“Three former female child actors of the same generation are gone. Tragically, heartbreakingly, agonizingly too soon,” she continued.
“They are gone and the question I have been turning over and over in my head is, ‘WHY?’ Why are these three sweet, wildly talented, vibrant, vital young women gone?”
The producer, 62, admitted that though she didn’t know Panettiere personally, she briefly worked with both Trachtenberg and Chase.
Trachtenberg died at age 39 in February 2025 from complications of diabetes mellitus, while Chase died on June 16 at the age of 36 from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
As for Panettiere, she was found dead on Aug. 16 at a Greenville, South Carolina, Airbnb she was staying at with her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Brian Hickerson. She was 36.
Gilbert said she takes the deaths personally because it feels like she “was them.” She then listed several other former child stars, including Brooke Shields, Dakota Fanning, Ellie Fanning and Drew Barrymore “to name a few.”
“We are all members of the same tribe; Female Former Child Performers, and when one of us dies, it runs through all of us like an electrical current,” she penned. “When three of us die so close together, something is very, very wrong.”
The former “When Calls the Heart” actress explained how she and former child stars “know the stories of how the entertainment industry uses, abuses, exploits and then throws away its youngest.”
“But for some reason, this trend is getting worse,” she added. “My thinking is that it is tied to the invention of the mobile phone.”
Gilbert argued that actors suffer from a lack of privacy while out in public and in the media, posing the question, “How do we fix or end this before someone else dies?”
She also got candid about growing up in the entertainment industry and on the “Little House on the Prairie,” writing, “I can’t tell you how many times I worked while horribly sick, injured or worse.”
The “When We Last Spoke” star explained how her father died when she was 11 years old and how she returned to work “within months.”
“And not one single adult on that set discussed it with me or offered condolences,” Gilbert, who portrayed Laura Ingalls on the beloved western series, added. “I later found out that the fear was I would become too upset to work. I was eleven, my Daddy had just died and I was shattered.”
“Thank God my character cried in every single episode. That, as twisted as it sounds, was my therapy. My release.”
Gilbert suggested that all former child stars should come together to “enact real, substantive change,” explaining that free mental health resources for actors should be a top priority.
She concluded her emotional essay, sharing that she has “an image” of Panettiere’s 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, growing up without her mom.
The pre-teen has grown up in Ukraine with her father, Wladimir Klitschko, after the late actress gave up custody in 2018 due to her ongoing battle with postpartum depression and addiction. However, Panettiere maintained a strong bond with Kaya and often visited with her.
“And now I am weeping as I type this and I just want to scream from the rooftops,” Gilbert signed off, adding, “ENOUGH!”
Gilbert’s passionate essay came after her husband, Timothy Busfield, 69, was charged in a child sex abuse case back in June.
On Jan. 13, the “West Wing” actor was arrested on charges of criminal sexual contact of a minor and child from incidents with two twin boy child stars dating back to 2022.
Busfield denied the allegations against him, telling police at the time of his arrest that it was “highly likely that he would have” had contact with the two victims, who were 7 years old at the time.
Gilbert has stood by the “Thirtysomething” star’s side, with her rep previously telling Page Six, “Melissa stands with and supports her husband and will address the public at an appropriate time.”
She also claimed that Busfield was “the last person in the world who would hurt a child,” telling “Good Morning America” in April that she was “100% confident” he would be exonerated.
Busfield will go to trial in May 2027.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).
Entertainment
‘DWTS’ alum Peta Murgatroyd reveals how family’s adjusting after move to Florida

Peta Murgatroyd revealed she and her family — including husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy — are enjoying a “great lifestyle” in Florida after moving from Los Angeles.
“We’ve always loved Florida, we’ve always loved the lifestyle here,” the “Dancing With the Stars” alum said in a since-expired Instagram Stories upload on Friday, per Us Weekly.
“We fell in love with Boca because it, kind of, has everything, the best of everything,” the pro dancer, 40, said, sharing that they’re “really close to Miami” and “have the beach” nearby.
Murgatroyd, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, also cited “really top-rated schools” and “amazing sports” for their sons — Shai, 9, Rio, 3, and Milan, 2.
The two-time Mirrorball champ admitted that she thought she “would have a bigger problem” with the heat and shared that people told her, “You’re gonna come back to Cali.”
Still, she’s happy with the cross-country move, noting, “Cali will always be a home of ours because we lived there for 20 years but, right now, I think this is what our fam needs and we are loving every second.”
“It’s the best,” she divulged.
Murgatroyd also gushed over the “very sweet, very nice, very accommodating” neighbors she’s encountered, claiming “this never happened over there” in LA and that the Florida “mothers are all really nice.”
“I wanted Shai to have the childhood that I had and I can see it happening. He has playdates, he has boys knocking on our door, saying ‘Hey come play, let’s go ride our bikes,’” she said. “It’s the best thing for me, and it’s all I want. I’m so happy.”
Not only that, but she noted the convenience of having nearby friends for her children and “a CVS or Walgreens on every corner,” saying, “I love it; I feel like at this stage of my life with three boys, I’m about convenience.”
Murgatroyd and Chmerkovskiy, 46, detailed their move in an emotional YouTube video in June, saying at the time that it was “the best decision” for their young family.
“There are tears you don’t expect, goodbyes that hit harder than you imagined, and moments where you wonder if you’re making the right decision,” she wrote in an Instagram post at the time. “But sometimes you have to leave what’s comfortable to find what’s meant for you.”
In a separate Instagram post, Murgatroyd reflected on the “fun ride” of living in LA in their $18K-a-month home but said “we have to move on to new things, new life and new adventures, and make new memories.
The “DWTS” couple married in July 2017 and have since moved on from the long-running competition show.
Murgatroyd last competed on Season 32 in 2023 and Chmerkovskiy — a one-time winner — last competed on Season 25 in 2017.
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